Padgett has been working toward a career in OT since she began her undergraduate degree.Sheree Padgett’s independence and determination to excel have been a part of who she is since early childhood, when life circumstances meant she had to grow up fast. At age 8 she was doing household chores usually reserved for teenagers and helping her mom take care of her grandmother and little sister.

“I grew up in a single-parent household, and my mom [who has a disability] couldn’t really work outside the home. When my grandmother got sick, we moved in with her and my grandfather,” says Padgett, who is from Theodore, AL, a small town just south of Mobile. “Regular eight-year-olds might have been outside playing, but I was washing dishes, doing laundry, mowing the lawn.”

These experiences instilled the motivation and self-discipline that helped Padgett become the first person in her family to go to college and earn full scholarships for all her undergraduate studies. She began that work at Coastal Alabama Community College in Bay Minette and finished it at UAB, where she was awarded a highly competitive Presidential Scholarship. She maintained a 4.0 GPA the entire time—all while working 5 days a week.

“I am where I am today because of how I grew up,” says Padgett, 22. “I don’t see any of it as a struggle. I don’t any of it as a disadvantage. Instead, I use it to my advantage as motivation. I just look at it as ‘OK, this happened to me, and I’m going to use it and move on.’”

In this interview, Padgett talks more about the experiences that made her who she is today, some key moments from her first semester, and how she’s learned to fit in social time.

Tell me more about how your life experiences have helped you succeed as an adult.

I’ve always wanted to do well for my family. And, always, I want to beat the statistics you see if you’re looking in from the outside: So, they live in a trailer. None of them work except for her grandfather. She’s not going to be anything. And I feel like, being biracial, there’s a stigma: the odds are stacked against her. I wanted to beat all that.

Padgett and her mom, Gina, celebrating her graduation from UAB’s undergraduate program in kinesiology (concentration, exercise science). Also, I want to be able to tell my mom, “Hey, Mom, you might have not been able to do all you wanted to do for us. But I want you to know that you didn’t fail us. I saw all your hard work and dedication. And I’m using that to build a foundation for my life.

How does your background affect how you approach school—and life?

When it comes to academics, I’m here for a reason. I’m not just here living life. I’m here to do school.

I don’t really have any financial help [from family], and my goal is to pay for school out of pocket, with no student loans. I save everything I can from my scholarships. At first, I didn’t know what I was saving for. I just wanted to have money to fall back on depending on what happened. Now, I’m focused on saving money for kids and building a nice retirement.

I know you can’t plan [every part of] your life out. I like to be present, but also look out into the future. Because every move you make now is going to affect you in the future. I try to be aware of that.

You’re very self-motivated and driven, but I imagine that drive can be stressful at times. Tell me about that, and how you manage the pressure.

I feel guilty when I don’t study, and I stress out about school so much. I’ve always been that way, so I feel like, if I don’t stress, bad things are going to happen. During the summer semester I made sure I stressed a little less and gave myself more [downtime] so I wouldn’t feel so exhausted.

My social time became an important aspect [of my life] because I knew that if I didn’t focus on it, I would be more exhausted and not perform that well in class. I made sure my mental health came first, and part of that was ensuring that I was making time for myself and my friends. I had a lot of pool and movies days with friends that were muchly needed.

I finished the summer semester with all As. It was difficult at times to juggle everything, but it all worked out in the end.

Padgett with her peers in creative occupations class. What else stands out to you from your first semester, and what are you looking forward to this fall?

A key moment in summer semester was getting closer with my friends during creative occupations class. In one of those classes, we had to create a collage of things our group had in common. This class specifically was interesting because, although we had a smaller group, I was able to see my similarities with other groups and learn more about them.

This fall, I am looking forward to my OT 720 class and learning more about pediatrics. I would like to work in peds eventually, and I’m excited to see if that remains the same after this class.

With OT, there are endless opportunities in terms of areas that you can go into. I think that diversity was what brought me in [to the profession] because you don’t have to be tied down to one area. And, with OT, you’re not just there just to be there, you’re making a difference in a person’s life.